Now that the October 2025 inbound tourism figures have been published, we can see that from January to October 2025 Malta got almost 3.5 million tourists. As had been predicted by this column when the Q1 2025 inbound tourism results were out, Malta would be getting around 4 million tourists by end 2025. Last year in November and December 2024 Malta got some 455,000 tourists, meaning that if we get the same exact numbers in November and December 2025 we would get the mentioned four million tourists in 2025. This would mean some half a million more tourists in 2025 over the amount received in 2024.
However, as normal for this column, I periodically publish the real expenditure per tourist figures. As shown below the real expenditure per tourist figure has been improving steadily year on year from 2023 to 2025, but for the first time following the pandemic, the real expenditure per tourist has now gone above the level registered in 2019. This meant that it took us some six years to go above the real expenditure per tourist level experienced in 2019.
As this column has always stressed, sheer volume of arrivals cannot be the sole measure of success. The key takeaway from the latest data is the sustained improvement in the real expenditure per tourist, which has finally surpassed the pre-pandemic level registered in 2019. This demonstrates a possible crucial shift, that Malta is maybe managing to attract a slightly bigger portion of a higher-value visitor, one who contributes more to the economy per trip. This is the necessary first step toward building a truly sustainable tourism industry.
Moving forward, Malta’s strategy must pivot from simply increasing arrivals to maximising the sustainable contribution of tourism to the national economy and quality of life. An unsustainable model relies on constant, unchecked volume growth, straining infrastructure, resources, and local communities, as highlighted by concerns over rising tourism intensity in certain localities like St Julian’s, Sliema and Valletta. On the other hand, a sustainable tourism industry requires a focus on quality niche markets, whereby a diversification of the tourism product away from mass beach holidays towards high-value segments like MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions), gastronomy, eco-tourism, cultural/historicalheritage, and wellness tourism. A needed step in a constant improvement in the quality of the overall tourism offering through better regulation of accommodation, investments in aesthetic improvements in key areas, and upskilling the workforce via initiatives like the Skills Pass. Beyond GDP Measurement, it would be insightful and helpful to start incorporating metrics like local resident perception and support for tourism development into planning, ensuring that the sector is socially sustainable and does not erode the quality of life for Maltese citizens.
Ultimately the push for a sustainable, high-value tourism model is directly aligned with the overarching Malta Vision 2050. This national strategy moves “Beyond GDP” to measure success through broader indicators like well-being, quality of life, and environmental sustainability. The specific tourism-related targets outlined in the Vision 2050 framework include a focus on High-Value Sectors as part of the Sustainable Economic Growth pillar. What remains mind boggling is the target of tourist arrivals of 4.5 million by 2035, when this will likely be hit in 2026. However, the Malta Vision set significantly increased tourist nightly expenditure, targeting between €257 and €285 per night by 2035, nearly doubling the present figure. The nominal spend per night from January to October 2025 stood at €156.51 per night (€131.52 per night in real terms). Just to put numbers so we understand the challenge ahead of us. Let us assume, for the sake of the argument, that from January to October 2025 we achieved an average nominal spend per tourist of €260 per night, we would have achieved the revenue from tourism we achieved with 3.5 million tourists with just about 2.1 million tourists i.e. getting the same revenue from tourism by having some 40% less incoming tourists.
Achieving the Vision 2050 tourism goals requires a strong commitment to decoupling economic growth from infrastructural pressures. The continued focus on driving up real tourist expenditure per capita, is the most effective way to manage the increased volume toward the 2035 target while preserving the islands’ scarce resources. The challenge now is to execute the national strategy with coherence and ambition, ensuring that the new growth is equitable and balances economics growth and quality of life.
